Art for Art's Sake (song)

"Art for Art's Sake"
Single by 10cc
from the album How Dare You!
B-side"Get It While You Can"
Released21 November 1975[1]
Recorded1975
GenreProgressive rock
Length4:11 (single edit)
6:01 (album version)
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman
Producer(s)10cc
10cc singles chronology
"I'm Not in Love"
(1975)
"Art for Art's Sake"
(1975)
"I'm Mandy Fly Me"
(1976)

"Art for Art's Sake" is a single by 10cc released in 1975. It was taken from the How Dare You! album,[2] and, in an edited version, reached No. 5 on the UK singles chart.

The title of the song derives from the fact that Graham Gouldman's father, Hymie Gouldman, often used to say "Art for art's sake, money for God's sake, okay".[3]

The wordless tape-loop vocals used by the band in their ground-breaking hit "I'm Not in Love" are also clearly audible in the slow sections of the song.

Record World called it "a spirited tour-de-force of vocal and production technique with an irresistible hook" and "a great sound."[4]

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 60.
  2. ^ "Art for Art's Sake". allmusic. Rovi. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  3. ^ "Art for Arts Sake -10cc". Songfacts. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  4. ^ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. November 22, 1975. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-03-09.